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Christian group says its religious rights were violated when pro-China supporters ‘surrounded’ church

VANCOUVER—A member of a Christian prayer group says their religious freedoms were “trampled” on when pro-Beijing protesters appeared outside a church on Sunday, prompting police to escort the worshippers out.

Chris Chiu, spokesperson of Vancouver Christians for Love, Peace and Justice, is urging Canadian politicians to speak up. He said the events that unfolded at Tenth Church in Mount Pleasant have halted plans for future gatherings due to potential security risks.

The group, formed in June, is made up of clergy and church leaders from different Christian denominations. It aims to promote “love, peace and justice in Hong Kong through prayer and other social actions” among concerned citizens and the broader Christian community.

In the late afternoon, when the service attended by roughly 70 people had ended, Chiu was told by other participants that a large group of people holding Chinese flags had “surrounded” the building outside. Officers from the Vancouver Police Department arrived and escorted the participants leaving the building.

“When I announced that (police arrived), I could see that people were actually quite alarmed and really shocked. People were fearful for attending a prayer service,” said Chiu.

According to the Christian organizers on their social-media page, the people who had approached the church argued with some of the prayer participants. The group later clarified that the argument did not involve any of the people at the prayer meeting.

“(If) we are going to have another public prayer meeting for Hong Kong ... then are we going to need to inform the police? Are we going to need to hire security guards? This is Canada: When we exercise our religious freedom and gather and pray in a religious place, we shouldn’t have to think about our safety.”

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The confrontation was an extension of protests and counterprotests in Vancouver and around the globe over the weekend.

Earlier that day, hundreds of demonstrators supporting the democracy movement in Hong Kong had assembled outside of the Chinese consulate in Vancouver. On the pro-Beijing side, supporters waved Chinese and Canadian flags and chanted their support for the Hong Kong police.

Victor Feng, one of the organizers of the counterprotest, said he started to plan the pro-Beijing response after seeing social-media posts about a rally at the consulate being prepared by the pro-democracy camp.

After the counterprotest at the consulate, Feng went to the rally outside the church.

“We didn’t know it was a church until everybody got there. And once we found it was a church, everybody just left,” Feng said.

Video posted to social media shows some protesters remained outside the church as people attending the prayer meeting left. Feng added that the people outside the church were “co-operative” with officers by standing in an area designated by police and he can’t see why the people inside the church would be scared.

“Nobody that I’ve talked to said they’re threatened,” Feng said.

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Steve Addison, media relations officer for the Vancouver Police Department, said in a statement that they arrived at the church to “keep the peace during the demonstrations.”

“There was a large group of protesters near the church, and our officers were there to ensure the protest remained peaceful and lawful,” he said.

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For more than two months, protesters have taken to the streets in Hong Kong, demanding a controversial bill allowing the extradition of people to China be withdrawn from the legislature. The bill is currently shelved, but protesters say it must be removed completely. They are also demanding other democratic reforms.

Chiu urged politicians in Canada to take the incident at Tenth Church seriously, saying that “intimidation” and “bullying” is infringing on Canadians’ freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression.

The same concerns were echoed by Joel Wan, a student activist and member of Vancouver Hong Kong Political Activists (VHKPoActs). He said he saw threatening messages on social media Friday night that appeared to come from people in Vancouver who wanted to protest the pro-democracy gathering his group was co-organizing outside Broadway-City Hall station on Saturday.

He called police after seeing photos of a gun, machete and switchblade in a WeChat channel for people who planned to attend the Saturday rally to counter the gathering.

An organizer of the counterprotest that was also at the Saturday rally outside the Broadway-City Hall station, Nicholas Wang, had denied any threats came from their camp, saying they were just there “to share their message and sing their songs.”

After participating in Saturday’s gathering, Wan said he feels his personal security is at risk.

“At some point, I took off my mask to talk to the locals there and I know someone took a picture of me … They (could) send it back to the Chinese government so they can identify us later. This part kind of intimates me,” Wan said.

He added that due to potential security threats, the group also cancelled an evening film screening planned for Downtown Vancouver.

At a press conference on Monday, Addison said VPD is “looking into” the threats that have circulated online. He added that the weekend demonstrations happened lawfully.

Mike Farnworth, B.C.’s minister of public safety and solicitor general, said in a statement Monday that the government believes in peaceful protest and lawful assembly.

“We encourage people to have their voices heard but first and foremost to respect the law to ensure the safety of both protesters and the public,” said Farnworth.

Clarification-Aug. 22, 2019: This article was edited from a previous version that said pro-Bejing supporters were involved in an argument with a person attending a prayer meeting. In fact, the Vancouver Christians for Love, Peace and Justice clarified that the argument did not involve a prayer meeting attendee. The article has also been updated to include that some members of the pro-Bejing protest remained outside the church as people attending the prayer meeting left.

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